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Bullies now have another tool to torment kids with ......

This is pretty sad and disgusting. Bullies have yet ANOTHER tool to use to bullie other kids ........ Food.

When food allergies make kids a target

(CNN) -- It's tough enough having to avoid products with peanuts and other ingredients as a kid with severe food allergies. It's tougher when someone at school waves a granola bar in your face at the peanut-free lunch table.

That's what happened last week to a Pennsylvania fifth-grader whose mother asked that he not be identified. The boy had experienced allergic reactions to merely touching peanuts or breathing peanut particles in the past, so the act of granola-waving was more serious than for other allergy sufferers.

"He said [he was] scared, and 'sad that he would do that to me,' and 'mad that he would do that to me,' and worried that it's going to happen again," the boy's mother said.

As the prevalence of food allergies grows in America, doctors are becoming more conscious of a disturbing trend in children getting picked on for not being able to eat certain foods.

According to a new study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, about 35 percent of children over age 5 with food allergies have experienced bullying, teasing or harassment. The study, which mostly surveys the parents of these children, said those negative social experiences, which included physical and verbal incidents, happened because of food allergies.

"The school has to really address it. It's not the child's job to take care of this problem, because there's already an imbalance of power," said study author Dr. Scott Sicherer, pediatric allergist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Gina Clowes, director of allergymoms.com and a coach for parents on food allergies, hears stories about food-allergic kids targeted by others in school all the time.

"They'll make fun of what they're eating," she said. "I don't know if it's innocent or malicious, but some kids will literally threaten them with the peanut, or 'I'm going to throw peanuts at you.' "

While bullying with regard to food allergies isn't all that different from bullying about other attributes, children with food allergies have an additional burden because they have the responsibility of taking care of themselves medically already, Clowes and Sicherer stressed.

"Here you have a child who already has to deal with not eating the same things as the other children; they already have to worry about is this meal safe for them; about having an allergic reaction," Sicherer said. "This is an additional problem of someone making it even harder on them."

The warning signs are similar to other forms of bullying, Clowes said: A child may appear sad, upset, withdrawn, anxious or say that he or she doesn't want to go to school. But parents should also look for changes in their kids' eating habits: They may come home with an untouched lunchbox, for example.

"I've had parents say kids go the entire day without eating because they're being made fun of for special foods," Clowes said.

The latest data from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention show that about 3.9 percent of children younger than 18 in the United States have food allergies, representing an 18 percent increase from 1997 to 2007.

I mean really ?? Now kids are using food to threaten others ?? I'm sorry but i think there needs to be a tougher crack down on bullies. Its just sad. Parents of Bullies, usually either 1. don't care, 2. think its great their kid is "on top" or 3. To stupid to see it. Bullies usually get made out to be the "victim" by their own parents, and its just crazy !!!! Parents of Bullies need to be held accountable for their kids actions as well. Their kid does something like this and causes a child to have an allergic reaction, the parent should face criminal charges, just like the bullie should.

When my son was being teased on the bus, I couldn't believe how many people told me that maybe I should just drive him to school. How about the school kick the assh*le kids off of the bus and inconvenience THEIR parents?

They should address this in every school and warn the kids that it could be life threatening. Then if they do it anyway, it should be treated the same as if they pulled a knife on them.

I agree with you! My son experienced bullying because of his food allergies when he was in 5th grade, too, although not to the degree of the boy in this story. In my son's case, he was being teased for eating a particular type of cereal and cookies (gluten-free) and after that happened, he never ate either of them again (he's 15 now). He already has a severely limited diet because of health issues & food allergies and he didn't need to be limiting it further because of stupid bullies. Thank goodness he's no longer in public school!

When my son was being teased on the bus, I couldn't believe how many people told me that maybe I should just drive him to school. How about the school kick the assh*le kids off of the bus and inconvenience THEIR parents?

They should address this in every school and warn the kids that it could be life threatening. Then if they do it anyway, it should be treated the same as if they pulled a knife on them.

I agree. And by the LACK of responses to such an article goes to show we probably will have A LOT more bullies coming up in the grades.

You know my 7 year old was being picked on by a 14 yr old I was told take him to school HELL NO I sicked my 15 year old family friend on the bully. He did it gladly too. Never hit the kid I talked to the bullies parents and was told well take the lil wuss to school then.

Quoting Jynnifer292:

When my son was being teased on the bus, I couldn't believe how many people told me that maybe I should just drive him to school. How about the school kick the assh*le kids off of the bus and inconvenience THEIR parents?

They should address this in every school and warn the kids that it could be life threatening. Then if they do it anyway, it should be treated the same as if they pulled a knife on them.

That being said I would be furious if my kid was being bullied that way or doing the bulling

I agree with you! My son experienced bullying because of his food allergies when he was in 5th grade, too, although not to the degree of the boy in this story. In my son's case, he was being teased for eating a particular type of cereal and cookies (gluten-free) and after that happened, he never ate either of them again (he's 15 now). He already has a severely limited diet because of health issues & food allergies and he didn't need to be limiting it further because of stupid bullies. Thank goodness he's no longer in public school!

Yep the sad thing is the fooders posts and duggar posts get all the attenion

Quoting Aamy:

Quoting Jynnifer292:

When my son was being teased on the bus, I couldn't believe how many people told me that maybe I should just drive him to school. How about the school kick the assh*le kids off of the bus and inconvenience THEIR parents?

They should address this in every school and warn the kids that it could be life threatening. Then if they do it anyway, it should be treated the same as if they pulled a knife on them.

I agree. And by the LACK of responses to such an article goes to show we probably will have A LOT more bullies coming up in the grades.

Can I be the one in all of the cafeterias to smack the bully kids upside the head? I can't believe how mean kids have gotten! Are they just not educated on the severity of what they're doing???

That is just it. Also, I wonder how many of them listen to their mothers bitch about not being able to send peanuts to school. They probably justify that the child with the allergy is to blame and deserves to be teased.

Kids can just be cruel and will find anything they can to try and prove they are better than those they pick on. It's really sad, but the schools do need to start addressing this, because some of these kids probably don't realize that a food allergy can be that life threatening.

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